In recent years, many individuals have focused attention on total body development through personally tailored diet and fitness programs. This is evident from the growth in fitness centers, retail sales of equipment for use at home and in physical fitness programs, and media attention to the growing public awareness of the need for proper diet and exercise and the benefits to be derived therefrom. Moreover, while more people are involved in fitness programs, they are also continuing with such programs throughout much of their lives.
Today, fitness centers and retail stores are well-equipped with free weights and body building machines. They also generally include apparatus and other facilities for aerobic conditioning ranging from stationary bicycles to running tracks. In addition, fitness centers and retail stores are well known for specialized programs of fitness training.
Despite the wide range of equipment and programs, exercise apparatus for development of the hands. fingers and forearms has been largely ignored. It is notabIe that, despite the many expensive devices commonly found in fitness centers and retail stores, there is usually no equipment whatsoever for exercise, entertainment and rehabilitation by increasing the strength and flexibility of the hands, fingers and forearms even though such development is important for properly utilizing the free weights and body building machines such as those commonly found in fitness centers. Even when provided, however, exercise apparatus for the hands and fingers has lagged in comparison to the development of other devices.
Specifically, hand exercise equipment has fallen into several different categories. One hand exerciser having a pair of handles joining together at corresponding ends by a coil spring has been among the most common devices. Another hand exerciser in the form of a continuous loop having a plurality of inwardly extending springs terminating in finger engaging rings has been among the most impractical devices. Further, hand exercise devices have been as undeveloped as a simple rubber ball adapted to be squeezed by the hand.
With all the drawbacks of the typical hand exercise devices, there has been no effort to provide any type of device for effectively exercising the individual fingers. Similarly, efforts to make it possible to select the resistance for each finger while exercising the hand have been non-existent. Finally, there has been little or no effort to provide protection for the hand and fingers curing exercise with such devices.
While overcoming problems of these types, it is also desirable to provide a construction which is asthetically pleasing, compact, and essentially self-contained.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the above stated problems and accomplishing the stated objectives.